Trip Report Food and Rain Festival, Polynesian, 5th Anniversary!

Thanks to fall break, I got my photos edited and uploaded already. Yay!

Cast: Me and my husband, R
Where: Polynesian DVC villa (rental)
When: Oct 4-10
Why: 5th wedding anniversary

When we were planning this trip, I was unable to find any decent rates for our flight down on the 5th. I ended up finding a late Delta flight on the 4th that would get us there after midnight. It was around $70 as opposed to the ~$250 Southwest flights I was finding. I figured I wouldn't be able to add a night at the Poly, and frankly, I wouldn't want to pay that much for a room we didn't need until the wee hours of the morning. So I booked a room at All-Star Sports with some Disney rewards points. Score!

Ok now on to the trip. I left work a couple of hours early, took Chipper to his sitter's house and got home to get all the bags ready. R got home a little earlier than planned, and we were able to leave the house a little before 4pm.

We got to the Memphis airport in great time. I don't have TSA pre-check, and they sent me through a line where they were training someone. It. took. forever. I already get super anxious during the security check, and additional waiting makes it worse. Once I'm through and I KNOW I'm at my gate, I'm fine. But enough about my issues...

We had a plane change in Atlanta. Not a long layover. They were already starting to board when we got there. Atlanta had this cool art installation that reminded me of Pandora.



We got to Orlando before 12:30 and headed to claim our bag. It was weird seeing MCO completely empty.




Our bag came out almost immediately, so we grabbed it and made our way to the busses. We were headed to All-Star Sports at about ten till 1. Me = sleepy and cranky. Slanky? (not creepy...). Unfortunately it hit me that we never got a room text, which meant we'd have to stop at the desk. ARGH.

We were the 3rd drop off and got off the bus at 1:40. There was only one person at the desk, and the two people in front of us seemed to be taking forever. It was about 15 minutes before a second person finally came out and we got our room number in less than a minute. Would have been nice to have just GOTTEN A TEXT. I guess maybe when I did online checkin I put that we'd be there late? I don't understand why that would make them not text us though.

Whatever. We got to sleep about 2:15am and I was OUT.

Sorry this is so text heavy. One more story, then I promise I'll do more pictures.

At 6am the freaking in-room alarm goes off. I turned it off (I thought)
At 6:10am the freaking in-room alarm goes off . I unplugged it
At 6:20am the freaking in-room alarm goes off . I briefly considered throwing it off the balcony, but R took it from me and started trying to figure it out. You needed a screwdriver to get to the batteries, but he figured out how to actually turn it off. Thankfully that worked.

We fell back asleep and didn't get up until 9. After we were up and moving, I took some pictures. Apologies for the slept-in beds (we sleep in a king bed at home, so in these doubles, we split up...no shame)



Donald I liked the room instantly because of this.



I thought the headboards were cool.






Honestly, I liked this room better than our Pop room last spring! I would totally stay here again. I think I'd request being closer to the main building. We were about as far as you could get in the baseball section. It didn't matter for us, but for a longer stay it would.

I headed out to get coffee and look for a rain jacket for R (we forgot to get one for him before). Sorry all iphone pictures...I forgot my camera. *Edited to add - after reviewing this post, I realize I took the room pictures AFTER getting coffee. Oops. Bad note taking.





It was raining steadily. It was a light rain, but heavy enough that I needed my jacket on with the hood up.

No luck with the jacket. I headed back to the room with only my $3 coffee.

We finished getting ready, packed back up and called at Lyft at 10. Jose took us over to the Poly. We had a great conversation! Unfortunately, this was the most expensive Lyft I've had, and it wasn't even that long. Ugh. No idea why there was surge pricing at 10am on a Friday. Whatever.

We walked into the Poly at about 10:30 and our room text came in! I couldn't believe it!




I love this lobby so much and it smells soooooooo good What I wouldn't give to smell it right now.

We were in Moorea, so we headed there. I knew it would be on the far end, so we headed that way and when we ran across a map, we charted our course.

 

[sheriffwoody]

After Club Cool, we decided to ride Journey Into Imagination since I was wearing my Figment gear. I honestly didn't remember this ride much, so I was glad we did it again! The wait was posted 30 minutes, but I think it was actually like 15 or 20.








Such a delightful ride!




What to do next? Well...TT was still down, so of course we got more food. We went to Earth Eats first

• Ricotta and Zucchini Ravioli with Rustic Tomato Sauce – $4.75
• Peanut Butter and White Chocolate Mousse with a Caramel Drizzle (GF) – $3.50

R was mainly interested in the ravioli, and I was interested in the mousse. We liked both of them! I would have been happy with a bigger portion of that mousse though

I was still on a mission to get all those dumb little AP buttons, so Coastal Eats was next.

• Lump Crab Cake with Napa Cabbage Slaw and Avocado Lemongrass Cream – $5.00

Not a fan of this at all. I think I'm picky about crab cakes, because I've only had a few I liked. The ones at The Wave we had in August were AMAZING. This one was bad enough that I didn't finish it. The texture was just yucky.

We headed on into World Showcase after this with a stop at the Craft Beer area.

• Chilled Scotch Egg wrapped in Sausage with Mustard Sauce — $4.00
• Eastern Florida Flight – $9.00
  • M.I.A. Beer Company 305 Golden Ale, Doral, FL
  • Playalinda Brewing Company Blonde Ale, Titusville, FL
  • Florida Beer Company Passport 35 Triple Chocolate Milk Stout, Cape Canaveral, FL

The egg was kind of interesting. I'm glad I tried it! I think I would eat it again, but it wasn't one of my favorites from the festival. The flight was decent, but no standouts.

We started into World Showcase and immediately noticed how back the crowds were. I think it was a little before 1, so I knew it would just get worse. I was REALLY thirsty though, so we were going to stop at a quick service for water before turning back. We got all the way to China before we stopped. Everywhere else (quick service) had long lines. China had NO line...I guess no one eats at that quick service place.

So we headed back and Test Track was finally back up.



R designed this beauty and I decorated it.



After Test Track we went to Spaceship Earth and R wasn't too happy. He hates it!! Thankfully he rides it with me, but I can't believe he thinks it's stupid



I thought we were both looking sleepy in our picture... oops.



Had to get a bubble gum wall selfie!

We headed out after that and were back in the room around 2 for some rest.

I had to go to the store at the Poly to get some toothpaste because I didn't bring enough. Also got us some water to keep in the fridge and traded some pins. I traded there a few times, and I was told they have a HUGE pic board, but I never did see it out I was a little bummed.

Up next: MK!

 

[sheriffwoody]

We rested for about an hour and a half then headed to MK.



I had a mission to get there for Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire. I have in my notes that we walked in a little after 4, so we got to the stage right as the show was about to start. I vaguely remember standing behind a stroller hoping I wouldn't have anyone's head in my way. We ended up having a great view through the whole show because people didn't crowd together and left space between each other. I feel like everyone has a better view if you're not crammed in like sardines.

Get ready for a lot of Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire spam!!!










Yay Tiana!!! This is my favorite part of the show.













But wait...there's more!

 

[sheriffwoody]

I found out one of our freshmen worked at Disney for a year before coming to our school. She was friends with Anna and Rapunzel for meet and greets and this show. I was sad that I didn't have pictures like this from the year before! It would have been cool to share with her (if I happened to have photographed her).















Ok I swear I'm almost done. I loved the shots I got of Elsa! I felt kind of bad shooting through the whole show, but this is what I love photographing the most in the park! Anything with performers.

 

[sheriffwoody]

LOVE these outfits!!!










Such a good show! I always tear up at the sappiness

Thanks for dealing with my photo overload. There will be more overloads... oops

After this, we headed to Adventureland because I'd gotten us a Jungle Cruise FP earlier. R doesn't like this ride, but we try to ride it most trips. I enjoy it, but it's not a must-do anymore.

 

[sheriffwoody]

We were in line for this at about 4:45, and I got us a FP for Pooh while in line. Score!




On to Pooh!



Love this ride. So cute! While we were in line for this, I grabbed a late FP for Space Mountain and kept modifying it until I got it to 6:15pm. I am usually pretty successful doing that! Since we had some time, we headed to Casey's to get some food before riding Space.

I didn't care for the special they had, so I got a regular dog. I miss the one with bbq and slaw


Our dogs were good, and we got to hear some piano playing. We headed to Space after dinner.



We saw some teenagers hop from the regular line to the FP line. The people behind us were so annoyed! They were saying how excited they were to see them get kicked out at the next checkpoint. I didn't have the heart to tell them that was unlikely to happen. I've seen many people do that in the Space queue, and they always just let them through. This particular time, the cast member stationed there was busy trying to solve someone else's problem that the line jumpers just slid by without scanning It's so annoying, but no use dwelling on it!

When we got out it was POURING rain. We threw our jackets on, and decided we'd try Buzz. The line was kind of a cluster, so we gave up on that. We went to CoP instead. There were ankle-deep puddles everywhere because of how quickly the rain came in.

After CoP it was about time for us to check in to the Happily Ever After dessert party.

Up next: Dessert party!

 

[12in12]

Wonderful photos of the castle show! I don't think I have ever taken the time to see it but will definitely do so now during my next visit.

 

[sheriffwoody]

Wonderful photos of the castle show! I don't think I have ever taken the time to see it but will definitely do so now during my next visit.

Thank you! It's definitely worth watching. It's got that cheesy "you can achieve anything you dream" message Makes me feel warm and fuzzy

 

[Rista1313]

Here now! I can't wait to hear about the dessert party, as I've been considering surprising Hubby with this on our trip.

You both looked so wonderful in your dress clothes, and the food looked spectacular at V&A's. I would also have a hard time with the bill, because yeah, Cici's!

The pictures you take are spectacular! One gal you shot ... I could almost see her viginity...

Glad you liked the Founders. I live in Grand Rapids, about 10 minutes from there. They use to be in a tiny building, and now their building is HUGE!

 

[sheriffwoody]

Here now! I can't wait to hear about the dessert party, as I've been considering surprising Hubby with this on our trip.

You both looked so wonderful in your dress clothes, and the food looked spectacular at V&A's. I would also have a hard time with the bill, because yeah, Cici's!

The pictures you take are spectacular! One gal you shot ... I could almost see her viginity...

Glad you liked the Founders. I live in Grand Rapids, about 10 minutes from there. They use to be in a tiny building, and now their building is HUGE!

I will talk more about it, but I enjoyed it! I wouldn't do it again, but it was nice to have a good view for my first time seeing the show. If you're fine standing in the more crowded area though, don't waste your money. The desserts are just ok.

LOL about the one girl. I know which one you're talking about. They do several high kicks during the show, so I catch the underwear pretty often. It's part of the costume though, so I don't mind.

 

[Rista1313]

I will talk more about it, but I enjoyed it! I wouldn't do it again, but it was nice to have a good view for my first time seeing the show. If you're fine standing in the more crowded area though, don't waste your money. The desserts are just ok.

It'll be our first time.. and hubby has to use an ECV for all that walking due to failed back surgery. Neither of us can stand for long periods of time, so I thought it might be nice to do it, just for the seating! Did you do the Garden, or the Terrace?

 

[PacNWTigger]

I love how vibrant the colors are in your pics of the show! Amazing!!

 

[sheriffwoody]

It'll be our first time.. and hubby has to use an ECV for all that walking due to failed back surgery. Neither of us can stand for long periods of time, so I thought it might be nice to do it, just for the seating! Did you do the Garden, or the Terrace?

We did the Garden one. We sat in the Tomorrowland Terrace restaurant for the dessert, then walked over to the hub grass for the show. The terrace doesn't give you a great view of the projections from what I've heard so that's why we did the garden view. @Doc Disney did the terrace, I believe, so she might be able to chime in on if it's worth it.

 

[MinnieM123]

All your photos are great--some, actually outstanding.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Excellent Friendship Faire pictures!

 

[*Flynnderella*]

Amazing pictures from the castle show!!

 

[Doc Disney]

We did the Garden one. We sat in the Tomorrowland Terrace restaurant for the dessert, then walked over to the hub grass for the show. The terrace doesn't give you a great view of the projections from what I've heard so that's why we did the garden view. @Doc Disney did the terrace, I believe, so she might be able to chime in on if it's worth it.

I would do the Garden for sure if you are into projections. If you don't care about the projections then the terrace is fine...but there are a lot of trees that block the castle when you are sitting. I personally like the fireworks better so I didn't mind

 

[PrincessL]

Your V&A dress was stunning! The food looked too good to eat

As always love your pics and your ears!!

Can't wait to see your pics from the Garden view...considering for our next trip!

 

[Rista1313]

I would do the Garden for sure if you are into projections. If you don't care about the projections then the terrace is fine...but there are a lot of trees that block the castle when you are sitting. I personally like the fireworks better so I didn't mind

Thanks, I think as long as we have the ECV, the Garden might be the way to go, I can suck it up and stand for a little while... or make him share his seat =D

 

[blreinsel]

You got so many gorgeous shots of Elsa!

OMG the rain that night... so terrible.

 

[krause]

I never realized how amazing the costumes are for the non-characters in the parades and shows until I started reading your trip reports! It is definitely something I am going to be paying more attention to the next time I am there. I also at that girls underwear in that picture haha but it was still a fantastic picture and clearly it doesn’t bother her!